For example, a rotary connector device mounted on a steering shaft of a vehicle body, such as an automobile, has a configuration in which a rotator and a stator are assembled in a relatively rotatable manner, and a flexible flat cable (hereinafter referred to as a flat cable) that is wound into a spiral shape is housed in an annular housing space formed between the rotator and the stator.
The length of the flat cable is adjusted such that, when a steering wheel or the like is assembled to the rotary connector device that is in a neutral position, the steering wheel can be rotated, with respect to the steering shaft, by a maximum number of rotations substantially equally in both rotational directions, namely, in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction.
More specifically, in the rotary connector device, the length of the flat cable is adjusted such that the rotator can be rotated in each of both the rotational directions by the maximum number of rotations while following the steering of the steering wheel.
Thus, in a case in which the rotary connector device is assembled to the vehicle body when it is not in the neutral position, even when the steering wheel is steered in one direction of both the rotational directions by the maximum number of rotations, the flat cable is more than long enough. However, when the steering wheel is steered in the other direction of both the rotational directions, there is a risk that the flat cable may become damaged or broken as a result of the rotary connector device being rotated beyond its rotatable range.
In response to such a problem, in Patent Document 1, for example, a rotary connector device is disclosed that is provided with a fixing member including a cover that covers a connector provided in the rotator in a neutral position, and a fitting hole that is fitted with a protrusion provided in the stator.
The rotary connector device described in Patent Document 1 is considered to be capable of fixing the stator and the rotator in the neutral position by covering the connector with the cover provided in the fixing member, and also by causing the fitting hole to be fitted with the protrusion.
However, with the rotary connector device having the above-described configuration, when the steering wheel is temporarily removed from the steering shaft to perform an inspection, a repair, a replacement or the like, the rotator becomes relatively rotatable with respect to the stator.
When the rotary connector device is relatively rotated as a result of temporarily removing the steering wheel, a problem arises in which the neutral position cannot be found. Therefore, when a steering device, such as the steering wheel, is reassembled with the rotary connector device, there is a risk that the rotary connector device and the steering device may be assembled together in a state in which the neutral positions of the rotary connector device and the steering device are displaced with respect to each other.